Do you want to get well?

Today’s Reading: John 5:2-6 (NIV)

2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here, a great number of disabled people used to lay – the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed. 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

Memory Verse: “Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” (Romans 15:7 ESV)

Good day!

“Do you want to get well?” That seems like a strange question for Christ to ask the lame man near the pool of Bethesda. The Scripture tells us that this man had suffered for a long time with an infirmity that kept him from walking. Wouldn’t he long to be whole again? Isn’t that why he drug himself to the pool every day, hoping to receive a healing miracle in the water?

It must have taken an extraordinary effort for him to get there; yet, he never made it into the pool. People go to great lengths to “fix” the pain in their lives. I don’t know anyone who personally enjoys living with daily pain and suffering. We look for ways to ease our hurt; some even become proactive with their physical bodies. They choose to eat a healthy diet, making time to exercise, and taking vitamin supplements to improve their quality of life. Others carry pain pills in their purses and pockets, just for the moments when horrible headaches or muscle aches suddenly occur. We spend our money each year on health care assistance and medical insurance, seeking the advice of doctors, counselors, athletic trainers, and holistic healers, trying to overcome our chronic pain. We do long to be well, don’t we?

For some, we drag ourselves to the water each day, but stop just short of getting in. We long for wholeness, yet fail to take that final step of faith. Sometimes it is just easier to stay the way we are. Like an old friend, we become comfortable in our present circumstance. Do you know of anyone who would rather continue the way they are going rather than risk the possibility of receiving a whole new lease on life? Is that someone you?

To understand the gift of healing, we must first know what it is like to hurt. We cannot fully appreciate the gift of healing unless we have endured pain. Maybe healing doesn’t come the way we expect or want it to. Maybe we don’t recognize the gift when it is given. How would you answer Christ’s question, “Do you want to get well?”

Grace and peace,

Deb Spaulding

Faith UMC - St. Charles, MO

www.songofdeborah.com

Help us to experience complete healing and wholeness through the love of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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© Copyright 2008, Deb Spaulding

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